Hidden Truths
by itachisgirl4ever
Summary: Sakura has a special power that makes her dangerous to the village. When she is recruited by the Akatsuki what will she learn about Itachi and his past? Itasaku
1. Chapter 1

Hidden Truths

Disclaimer: I do not own this series. All characters belong to Kishimoto! Unfortunately that includes Itachi….sad…

This is my first fanfiction so please review and tell me what you think!

At night in the Village Hidden in the Leaves a girl sits alone in a prison cell. Why she is there is no fault of her own, just fate playing its part. The girl's name is Sakura Haruno; she was born with a special gift that made her a dangerous weapon. Too dangerous to be left to roam the streets of Konoha.

There is an explosion and the sound of a kunai slicing flesh. Suddenly a figure appears at my cell, quickly breaking the lock.

"Come with me," the figure says in a husky tone. I waste no time asking questions and quickly follow the man in the cloak, anything is better than wasting away in that cell. We run out of the prison building and through Konoha into the forest where I sense another chakra signature. The man stops and effortlessly slices through my chakra bindings.

"Who are you?" I ask, glancing at his face for the first time. The man has a blue complexion and what appear to be…gills. I notice the trademark black cloak with red clouds. "Akatsuki," I breathe.

"Catch on quick don't you?" he said grinning, showing off a mouthful of pointed teeth. "If you know who we are then I bet you can also guess why we're here."

"You want to recruit me for my abilities." He nodded and the other person stepped forward revealing blond hair and a shocking blue eye.

"Don't be rude, Kisame, you should always introduce yourself, especially to an...innocent girl such as this. I'm Deidara, un. I believe we've already met," his eyes narrowed suspiciously at me as he spoke.

"Innocent girl my ass," mumbled Kisame. "Anyway, what do you say?"

"It's better than going back in the cell."

"That's the attitude, un! Now let's get going, we have to get back to the hideout." I followed the two S-class criminals, leaving my only home without so much as a backward glance

* * *

"Sakura Haruno, so nice of you to make it," says a man with orange hair and multiple piercings as I walked into the hideout. He motioned to a place next to him. On his other side was a woman with blue hair and an origami flower in her hair. "This is Konan." I simply nodded and sat where he had motioned to. "My name is Pein; I am the leader of the Akatsuki. The others will be with us momentarily." A loud wail came from the hallway and a dark haired man with a mask ran into the room, hair on fire.

"Tobi, what did you do to Deidara now?" the leader asked impatiently.

"Tobi is a good boy!" the masked man wailed as he managed to calm the flames eating away at his hair. "Tobi just decided to redecorate Deidara sempai's room while he was gone!"

"TOBI! Get back here, un! I'm not finished with you!" cried the blonde as he ran into the room, mound of clay in hand.

Pain pinched his fingers to the bridge of his nose, "Deidara, how many times do I have to tell you? No explosives in the building." The blonde looked up just as he caught Tobi by the back of his cloak. Said Akatsuki was struggling desperately to escape.

"Sorry leader, un," Deidara mumbled. He let go of Tobi and sat down next to me while the masked Akatsuki sat at the other end of the table. Kisame walked into the room followed closely by a shorter man with long dark hair and coal black eyes.

'_There's no way...he couldn't possibly be…could he?' _I thought as my eyes followed the man with the dark hair. His eyes met mine and I gasped. _'It is him! There's no mistaking the resemblance, that's Sasuke's older brother, Uchiha Itachi.' _Itachi simply sat down at the table and stared off into space while Kisame grinned at me.

"Eager to meet the other members, shorty?" he asked. I glared at him.

"I don't know fishy, should I be?" Kisame snorted.

"Well that depends," he said, "do you like cannibalistic, money-obsessed, or self-mutilating men?" I raised an eyebrow and decided not to answer.

"Ah, here they are," Pein said as the remaining members filed into the room. "Shall we start then? As you all know, Kisame and Deidara were sent to recruit a new member. This is Sakura Haruno," he said, motioning to me.

"What the hell?" yelled a man with greased back hair and some kind of symbolic necklace. "You recruited a girl? And a small one at that!" I narrowed my eyes dangerously.

"Ignore him; Hidan has some…anger issues," said Leader. "These are Kakuzu, Zetsu, Hidan, Tobi, and Itachi," he motioned to each member that hadn't been introduced before. "You already know Deidara and Kisame." I nodded and Hidan spoke up again.

"Seriously? There's no way in hell this tiny-ass chick is going to make it in this organization!"

"I better not lose money because of her," came Kakuzu.

"Are you all feeling doubtful of Sakura's abilities?" leader asked curiously, "Perhaps someone would like to fight her so she can prove herself?"

"I'll go," Deidara volunteered, "I wanna see what you can do, un. It had to be good to defeat Sasori no danna."

"Are you sure about this Pein? Have you told them what my kekke genkai is?"

He smirked, "I will let it be a surprise." I nodded and he instructed everyone to the training grounds outside.

"Fighting in the dark, un, I like it."

"You sure you want to do this Deidara? You're not going to like what happens." I said cautiously.

"I can handle myself, un. Hit me with everything you've got, shorty."

'_Great now he's calling me that, too.' _"OK Deidara, but I did warn you," I said as I pulled off my black gloves. The night was calm and a light breeze blew at my pale pink hair. It was a full moon which illuminated the training grounds.

Deidara watched me as I put my gloves in my pouch. "Don't most ninjas keep their gloves on during a fight, un?" I smirked.

"Yes, but I'm not like most ninjas."

"Are both opponents ready?" Pein called from the roof of the hideout where the other members stood watching. Deidara and I nodded. "Then you may begin."

Deidara immediately threw small clay figures at me, which I quickly dodged, remembering Tobi's flaming hair. He quickly made another figure which turned into a giant bird. Deidara jumped onto the bird which took off into the air.

"A long-range fighter, huh? Well that's certainly not to my advantage," I mumbled. He threw bigger explosives at me which took more skill to evade. I quickly made hand seals, activating part of my kekke genkai and immediately vanishing from view. Deidara certainly looked surprised. I glanced at the other members. Itachi had his sharingan activated; his eyes were locked onto mine.

'_What the hell? Sasuke could never see me with his sharingan, so why can Itachi?'_ I made a shadow clone to keep Deidara occupied while I tried to think of a way to get to Deidara. He was flying just out of my range. He would hear me if I jumped off one of the surrounding trees. I needed to get him by the roof of the hideout. Narrowly escaping a bomb, my clone managed to draw Deidara and his bird to the hideout. I quickly jumped on top of it and flung myself at Deidara, though still invisible. Somehow I made a soft landing and Deidara didn't notice me. His hands were in his pouch so I went in front of him and cupped his cheek with one hand, becoming visible as I did so. He was shocked and I tried to ignore the images flashing through my head.

"Game over," I said as I flipped off his bird and landed safely on the ground.

"What do you mean game over, un? What the hell was that?"

"You really shouldn't hold a grudge against Itachi," I said suddenly. "And I'm sorry about your family." Deidara's mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide.

"Wait, what? How do you know about that, un? And how did you-" he started to say but suddenly "decided" to flip off his bird and let it explode in the air. He took a kunai out of his pouch and held it to his own throat.

I looked at him calmly, "As I said earlier, game over." Leader clapped several times and looked down at me.

"Well done Sakura. I didn't expect it to be that quick. I was correct in recruiting you. Would you like to explain to Deidara what just happened?" he called. I nodded and turned back to Deidara.

"My kekke genkai allows me to do three things. I can become completely invisible, both to the normal shinobi eye or…most…optical kekke genkai," I said as I looked at Itachi quizzically. "Then by touching some part of your skin with my hand I will both know every memory or thought you have ever had and be able to completely control your mind."

Deidara gaped at me and blushed furiously. "Every memory and thought I've ever had!?" I smiled and nodded, letting his hand fall back to his side. I looked at him and willed him to walk toward me and hold out his hand.

"I can reverse the mind control but your memories are something I'm stuck with."

"Don't reverse it yet shorty!" yelled Kisame. "Make him do a dance!" I laughed and rolled my eyes. Making more hand seals I took Deidara's outstretched hand and closed my eyes, concentrating.

"There you go Deidara, you have a mind of your own again," I smiled.

"Very well, now does anyone still have doubts of Sakura's abilities?" Everyone was silent and Deidara blushed again. Pein smiled and dismissed us. "Itachi if you would show Sakura to her room, it's directly across from yours. Seiko your cloak and ring are waiting for you inside. I will assign you your first mission tomorrow." Itachi and I both nodded and I followed him inside.

"This is a big hideout," I said awkwardly as Itachi let me through various corridors.

"Hn."

'_Just like his brother,' I_ thought. _'I'm going assume he was agreeing.'_

"Itachi?" I asked cautiously. He glanced at me to show he was listening but continued walking. "If you don't mind me asking, how could you see me when I had my kekke genkai activated? I've sparred with Sasuke before and he could never see me, even with his sharingan." Something flickered in Itachi's eyes, but I couldn't catch what it was.

"My little brother's sharingan is not as powerful as my own," he said stoically.

"Oh."

"This is your room." He motioned to the door we stopped at then walked across to his own. "Goodnight."

"Uh, goodnight," I replied dumbly.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review, please! Next chapter up if you like it!

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

And here is the next chapter! I hope everyone likes it! Note: thank you to all the readers who reviewed and added my story to story alert! On an unrelated topic, Twilightxeclipse12 , I was watching the newest Naruto Shippuuden movie and they used "kekkei genkai" a lot. So I was thinking, "That doesn't sound like there's an 'ai' after 'kekk'. So I asked sensei (my Japanese teacher) and she told me it was kekkei not kekkai. Then she showed me how to write it in kanji. I didn't really need that part though, haha. Everybody feel free to correct my mistakes! It helps me get better. XD Anyway, without further ado, I present chapter 2!

There were a few sharp knocks on my door, rousing me from my deep sleep. I blinked a few times and rolled over to face the door.

"What the hell do you want?" I called angrily.

"Tobi was sent to come and wake you up!" came a shrill voice from the hallway.

"Yeah, well Tobi needs to get the hell away from my door before he gets a kunai through his head." I heard a soft whimper and panicked shuffling noises telling me Tobi had run away. I exhaled loudly and shoved my face back into the pillow. What seemed like seconds later there was another sharp knock on the door. I raised my head and glared daggers at the door. A male voice came from the hall.

"Haruno-san, you need to wake up now."

"Oh damn, Tobi would send the icicle," I mumbled to myself. "Go away! It's only…" I glanced quickly at the clock, "You're waking me up at five in the morning?! Are you insane?"

"I am to assume that was a rhetorical question? Now, please remove yourself from the bedroom or I will be forced to do it myself." I hoped Itachi was bluffing and grabbed the pillow again, covering my head with it.

"Come back later!" I yelled into the bed.

"Very well, you leave me no choice." I assumed Itachi was talking about him leaving, but that was most definitely not the case. There was a soft 'click' of the lock and I heard the door open. 'Oh shit, this isn't going to end well,' I thought.

"Yah!!!" I cried as the bed suddenly flipped over. Itachi grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. "Put me down!" I yelled, attempting to hit him with my wrists. I was under direct orders by Pein not to use my kekkei genkai against anyone in the Akatsuki unless told otherwise. "At least give me my gloves so I can punch you!" Itachi ignored me and walked into the dining room with me over his shoulder, which elicited some odd looks form the various Akatsuki.

"This sure as hell isn't something you see every day," said Hidan. "Hey, Sakura, did Itachi make you his bitch or something?" Before Hidan could react my hand was inside Itachi's cloak and I had grabbed two shuriken from his pouch, swiftly throwing them at Hidan. The shuriken struck home with deadly accuracy and in an instant were imbedded deeply into Hidan's neck. "Ouch! That hurt you bitch!" Itachi simply blinked at me and set me back on the floor. He proceeded to walk over to Hidan, pull the shuriken out of his neck, and calmly walk away. When he passed me he gave me a stoic glance.

"I would prefer you not do that again," he said as his sharingan bored into my eyes. I flinched and nodded. Itachi smirked and left the room. I turned back to Hidan, watching the blood flow from his wounds.

"How are you still alive?!"

"Hidan-san is immortal!" piped Tobi. "And so is Kakuzu-san! They're the only ones that can wake Itachi up in the morning, because he can't kill them…"

"Great…that's just what I need, a nuisance that can't be killed. So if I cut his head off?"

"I would be pissed off! So would Kakuzu, he bitches about having to sew it back on all the time." The masked man glanced at Hidan's neck and turned to glare at me. I ignored him and walked over to sit down next to Kisame. Said Akatsuki gave me an amused look.

"Well your first day seems to be going well."

"Oh yes," I replied sarcastically, "Everyone here just loves me. Is Itachi going to wake me up every day? If he is I'm setting traps." Kisame snorted.

"That would only piss him off more. It's best to just do as he says."

"But what would be the fun in that?" I smiled innocently.

"You keeping your limbs attached to your body," Kisame replied seriously, "Though he hasn't killed you yet, so who knows?" As he said that Pein walked into the room and sat at the head of the table.

"Today you all are going to take turns sparring with Sakura so she will be accustomed to your abilities if I chose to pair her with you." At this Hidan pulled out his collapsible pike and gave me a menacing smile.

"You'll make a good sacrifice to Jashin-sama," he leered at me.

"Hidan and Kakuzu, you have to work with each other to avoid the deaths of any other members, so I have assigned you a mission for today. You are excused. You may leave as well, Zetsu. You have a unique ability that would leave Sakura incapable to follow you." Hidan looked crestfallen as he walked out of the room. Pein turned to address me.

"You may use your kekkei genkai if your sparring partner allows you to, understand?" I nodded. "Very well, I will also be departing. You three have your orders, so I expect you to be in the outside training grounds in ten minutes. That includes Itachi," he added, glancing around the room. We nodded and Pein swiftly left the room.

"I'll go find Itachi and meet you guys outside," said Kisame.

"Yes! I get a rematch, un! You won't be so strong without your little mind control trick, will you girly?" Deidara's eyes sparkled enthusiastically and I smirked at him.

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

"Tobi is a good boy! Tobi doesn't want to hurt Sakura-san!" Kisame rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, Tobi, I'm sure Sakura-chan will be just fine." I laughed and quickly returned to my room to retrieve my gloves and weapons.

It was a bright day outside and there was a light breeze; perfect weather for sparring. There was a large, open space with a forest surrounding it and a river towards the edge. I hadn't been paying much attention to it last night. Kisame soon emerged from the hideout with Itachi in tail.

"Alright, so who am I fighting first?" I asked. Kisame grinned and eagerly volunteered. I smiled and nodded.

"Bring it on, fishy. What are the rules of the fight?" Kisame contemplated his options for a moment then smirked.

"Only one, you can't perform any jutsus. So that includes your kekkei genkai." I scowled at him but agreed, slipping on my black gloves.

I had brought a katana outside with me and strapped it to my back. I also had my weapons pouch with various shuriken and kunai along with a few poisoned senbon. Of course I also carried my own antidote.

"OK fishy, we'll start on your call." Kisame rolled his eyes and pulled out his Samehada.

"Ready? Begin!" Kisame quickly rushed at me and swung for my head. I swiftly unsheathed my katana and attempted to block his attack. His sword pushed me backwards and I flipped away, landing on my feet. I ran back at him and made a move to stab him in the stomach, which he easily blocked.

"I read in the Bingo Book that your sword sucks away your opponent's chakra. If I'm not using chakra against you it can't be of much use, can it?"

"You're wrong there, girly," Kisame said as the wrappings on his sword fell away and he swung at me. I managed to jump back in time to avoid a serious blow, but the sword still grazed my arm. I winced and looked down to see a rugged wound. I looked back at Samehada to see sharp spike-like objects covering it. I couldn't use my chakra to heal it, so I was going to have to ignore the wound.

I flipped behind him and landed a hard kick to the side of his face. He fell hard but quickly jumped back up and retaliated with a sharp kick to my stomach, which sent me flying backwards. I grabbed a few shuriken from my pouch and threw them at Kisame. He blocked with Samehada but one managed to hit his shoulder. He ran at me again and aimed a kick for my side. I blocked and punched him hard in the face. He stumbled back and blinked a few times then recovered easily with a punch to my stomach. I coughed up blood and jumped away, pulling out the senbon as I did so.

"Really? You're going to use needles against me? I'm insulted." I smirked at him and flipped into the air, flinging the needles at him aiming for various body parts. He avoided the first two but the last one struck him in the leg. Kisame rolled his eyes and moved to rush at me but suddenly stumbled and fell over backwards. Deidara started laughing.

"Oh yes, Kisame. Be insulted, un." I ran over to where he lay passed out and hurriedly pulled out the antidote. I bit the cap off it and jabbed it into Kisame's leg. After a minute the fish man stirred and sat up, groaning.

"Ow….what happened?"

"You were taken down by a needle, un!" mocked Deidara.

"A poisoned needle," Itachi corrected. Kisame muttered a few profanities and dragged himself out of the clearing.

"OK Tobi, it's your turn," I grinned. Tobi edged into the clearing and stood in front of me awkwardly.

"Uh, OK. So what are the rules, Tobi?"

"Tobi doesn't like rules! So there are none. Yay! And don't worry Sakura-san, I'll go easy on you!" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"OK then, just remember, it was your choice." Tobi nodded excitedly.

"Yep! Ok….ready? Go!!" I immediately made hand seals and vanished. Tobi shrieked and passed out. I released my kekkei genkai so I would become visible again.

"Jeez Sakura-chan, you didn't need to knock him out that quickly," remarked Kisame. I started giggling.

"I didn't. He just passed out on his own." Deidara rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Alright, it's my turn now, un!" he walked into the clearing and dragged Tobi off to the side by his ankles.

"And the rules?" I asked. Deidara smiled.

"You can't use your mind control." I smirked and nodded. Kisame grabbed Tobi and he and Itachi backed away to a safe distance. "Alright, begin, un!" He threw clay figures at me as a distraction while he became airborne. I avoided them easily and made the hand seals again to fade from sight. Deidara was flying high enough so that I couldn't reach him no matter what I jumped off of. I quickly made more hand seals while he stuck his hands in his pouches.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A giant ball of flame hurled itself at Deidara and he narrowly dodged it. He pulled his hands out and released two handfuls of clay explosives. While in the air the bombs exploded into dozens of smaller bombs that covered the entire clearing. _'Oh shit, this isn't good,' _I thought. I maneuvered around the explosives and jumped onto the roof of the hideout, with everyone but Itachi oblivious to it. Deidara released the bombs and I made a shadow clone to act like it was passed out.

"Hah! I win, un!" Deidara yelled as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Not quite," said Itachi.

"What do you mean, not quite? She's passed out cold!" Deidara said as he jumped off his bird to check. I silently jumped onto the ground behind Deidara and released the clone as he was about to touch it. "What the-" he started as I hit a pressure point, knocking him out. I released my jutsu and became visible again.

"Good job, girly!" yelled Kisame. He jumped down and picked up Deidara and carried him away.

"Uh, fishy, where are you taking him?" I asked as he walked away from the hideout. Kisame walked a bit farther and stopped in front of the river. He smirked at me and released the blond into the cold water.

"What the hell, un!?" Deidara screamed as he woke up and quickly pulled himself out of the river. He proceeded to chase Kisame around the training grounds.

"Come here Deidara, I can fix it!" I yelled. He reluctantly stopped chasing Kisame and returned to where I was standing. "Alright, now hold still." I made a few hand seals and lowered the amount of chakra I used so the jutsu wouldn't be so powerful. "Futon: daitoppa!" There was a great gust of wind, which effectively dried Deidara off. Unfortunately, Deidara's hair didn't do so well. I bit my lip hard to keep from laughing. Kisame on the other hand, wasn't so gracious. He doubled over laughing.

"What is eating your head?!" he laughed loudly as I took in Deidara's new puffy hairstyle. Said blond rounded on me and glared daggers, which only made him look more hilarious. I couldn't hold in the laughter any longer and fell onto the ground in hysterics.

"Not. Funny," He said dangerously. Tobi ran over and produced a comb from his cloak. I didn't bother to ask him why he had it. After a few minutes I managed to tame Deidara's hair.

"Wow, Deidara, you should keep your hair down more often," I said as I admired his hair. Deidara blushed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright _girls_, it's Itachi's turn to spar," interjected Kisame. I flinched and walked back out to the middle of the clearing, with Itachi following close behind.

"What are your rules, Itachi?" I asked cautiously.

"I have no rules. You may fight as you normally would," he replied monotonously. I nodded nervously. _'He took down the entire Uchiha clan by himself, he's going to tear me to shreds,' _I thought to myself. I pulled my gloves off and stored them in my weapons pouch.

"Alright, we'll begin on your signal, Itachi." He nodded slowly and looked me over for a second, as if trying to make a decision.

"Begin," he said calmly. Itachi activated his sharingan and I activated my kekkei genkai simultaneously. It really did no good to activate that part of my kekkai genkai, considering Itachi could see me anyway. I didn't care, though. Maybe it would be more interesting for the guys watching. _'OK, he's an optical user, so don't look in his eyes no matter what.' _I thought to myself. I jumped backwards and threw a few kunai at him, which he dodged effortlessly. He suddenly appeared in front of me and I tried to punch him. He grabbed me by the arm before the punch made contact and flipped me over. I went flying but managed to land on my feet. Itachi returned quickly and landed a punch to my stomach. I flew into a tree and he had me by the neck in an instant. I was forced to look into his eyes and I watched his sharingan morph before I was drawn into a genjutsu.

"This is the world of Tsukuyomi. I control everything here. You will be under my control for the next seventy-two hours," I heard him say. Suddenly I was back in Konoha and it was a pitch-black night.

"Naruto!" I yelled as I spotted the blond walking along the street. He turned around and glared at me.

"What do you want, you freak?" he spat at me. I gasped and stared at him incredibly.

"What are you talking about Naruto? I'm your best friend!" I yelled. He gave me a disgusted look.

"Me? Your friend? What are you talking about? You're nothing but a freak that deserves to be locked up forever." I felt tears sting at the corners of my eyes. More people were appearing next to Naruto. I saw Tsunade, Kakashi, Sasuke, and the rest of my genin class. They all gave me the same disgusted looks.

"Why did I ever agree to train such an abomination like you?" Tsunade snarled. I choked back a sob and fell to my knees. Itachi appeared in front of me with an emotionless expression. I was immediately overcome with anger and stood up so I was face to face with him.

"I'm nothing like you," I growled. "You may not care for anyone, and you may not have any real friends, but I'm not like that. My friends care about me. This is nothing more than a twisted illusion," I said as I pulled back my fist and punched him in the face. Before my fist hit him I saw something akin to hurt flash in his eyes. The memories of this pseudo-Itachi flooded my mind. I saw him as he tortured his victims, including Sasuke and Kakashi. _'So this is like a clone Itachi. It isn't the real one?' _I thought. The second and third parts of my kekkei genkai had activated when my fist made contact with Itachi's skin. I could now control the fake Itachi and the entirety of the Tsukuyomi world. I broke off the connection with my mind and was thrust back into my real body.

Exhaustion hit me and I started breathing heavily. Itachi had a startled look on his face and he stumbled backward and fell to his knees. I looked over to see Kisame and Deidara with their jaws hanging open in shock. After a few moments Itachi recovered and stood up. I quickly grabbed a kunai and threw it at him. He deflected it with a kunai of his own. He appeared in front of me again and I punched him in the stomach. He didn't move in time to block, but when the punch hit him he disappeared in a puff of smoke. _'Shit! It was a shadow clone! When did he have time to make the seals for that?'_ Before I could turn to look for the real Itachi he was behind me with a kunai to my throat.

"You win," I said dejectedly. He nodded and put away his kunai. I saw what seemed like confusion and hurt in his eyes, but it was gone before I could be sure. Kisame ran over to me with a shocked expression.

"Did you just break his Tsukuyomi? Only sharingan users can do that!" he cried incredulously.

"Actually…I think I took control of his Tsukuyomi," I mumbled. Kisame's eyes went wide and Itachi glanced at me sharply.

The five of us continued sparring until night fell. The results were almost always the same. Out of six matches per Akatsuki Kisame won twice. Deidara won once. Tobi never won. And Itachi only lost once. He used his Tsukuyomi on me once after that first time, but I realized I immediately had control of it without having to touch Itachi again. _'Interesting,' _I thought, _'One of his most powerful techniques is useless against me, and one of my most powerful techniques is useless against him.'_

And there you have it! Next chapter should be up sometime this weekend! Review and tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading. ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Hidden Truths Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter! Hope you guys like it! I know I had fun writing it, haha. Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers! XD And I still don't own the series! I'm not smart enough to come up with that on my own.

"No," Itachi said simply. We had been training off and on for a week under Pein's orders and had just finished for the night. We had gathered around the dining table and resting on the top were several full bottles of sake. Itachi eyed them wearily.

"Oh c'mon, Itachi, I would pay money to see you drunk!" exclaimed Kisame, eagerly pushing a cup towards his partner. Itachi ignored it and shook his head. "Fine," pouted Kisame, "You can be the referee."

"Is everybody ready, un?" asked Deidara as he picked up his cupful of sake. I smirked and nodded. Tobi bounced excitedly in his seat. "OK, first round!" Deidara tipped back the cup and drained the alcohol. Kisame, Tobi, and I followed his example while Itachi observed stoically. After six shots of sake Tobi started giggling uncontrollably.

"Tobi, what in the hell is so funny?" I asked.

"The room is spinning!" he yelled just before passing out and falling onto the floor. I giggled as we all took another shot. Three shots later I was having trouble concentrating while Deidara and Kisame had taken to singing. Itachi watched on with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Oh no!" yelled Deidara as he jumped up from the table, "I left the cat in the oven!" He made to run to the kitchen but tripped over his own feet and landed on the floor, unconscious. Kisame and I exchanged confused glances.

"Well, well, well. Looks like s'down to us, girly," Kisame slurred. I nodded and drank another shot; Kisame did the same while turning to stare at Itachi. "Oi, how come you don't talk?" Itachi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I have nothing of importance to say."

Kisame's eyes lit up like it was the most incredible thing he had ever heard. He opened his mouth to reply but passed out before he could say anything. I laughed and got up to take the unconscious men to their rooms.

"Itachi, could you get Kisame?" I asked. He nodded and threw the fish-man over his shoulder before walking out of the room. I shook Tobi's shoulder gently to wake him up. He screamed bloody murder and ran out of the room, arms flailing. Deidara was considerably easier to wake up. He merely groaned and sat up, staring at me intently. Suddenly he blushed and started laughing hysterically.

"You look pretty, un!" he exclaimed.

"OK Deidara…I'm going to take you to your room now," I said as Itachi walked back into the room. He gave the spot where Tobi had been a questioning glance. "He ran out of the room screaming," I elaborated. "By the way, where is Deidara's room?" Itachi inclined his head for me to follow him. I hoisted Deidara up and practically had to carry him to his room. Itachi stopped in front of Deidara's door and I turned the handle.

"Deidara, why is your door locked?"

"Because Tobi kept sneaking into it, un!" I rolled my eyes and asked for the key. Deidara fumbled around for it in his pockets. "Uh oh…" he mumbled sheepishly. I sighed and raised my foot to break the door down. "Noooo!" he yelled. "I don't want you to hurt Momo!" I blinked at him.

"You named your door Momo?" I asked incredulously. Itachi calmly walked over to the door and picked the lock with a kunai. I dragged Deidara over to his bed and dumped him on it. "Night!" I called as I shut the door.

"Wait!" he yelled, "Tell me a story!"

"Once upon a time there was a ninja named Deidara…the end. Goodnight!" I said and quickly walked away. I almost tripped over my own foot but Itachi caught me.

"He he…I think the sake is starting to affect me," I said sheepishly. Itachi nodded and walked me to my room making sure I got into bed without injuring myself. "Thanks, Itachi," I mumbled as I started to drift off. "G'night…"

"Goodnight," he returned when I appeared to have fallen asleep. I could've sworn I felt him kiss my forehead but I was too out of it to remember.

I woke the next morning to a splitting headache. "Ah, shit…" I groaned as I rolled onto my side, clutching my head. I heard hurried footsteps in the hallway and my door was kicked open to reveal Hidan back from his mission.

"Rise and shine, bitch!" he yelled. I tightened the grip on my head and sent a death glare at Hidan.

"Shut the hell up and get out of my room!" I growled back.

"What was that, whore?" he shouted with a hand cupped over his ear. The volume made me wince. I sent cooling chakra into my nerves to tame the hangover. Feeling better, I stood up and channeled chakra into my fists, giving Hidan a menacing look.

"Three seconds," I said quietly. Hidan gave me a confused look. "You have three seconds before your head is on the floor," I clarified. He raised an eyebrow and I advanced at him. Hidan quickly turned and ran out of the room. I rolled my eyes and walked into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later I was called into the dining room for a mission briefing. The room was unoccupied save for Pein and Itachi. Pein surveyed me quickly when I walked in.

"Good morning, Sakura," he said politely, "You and Itachi have a mission. A forbidden scroll has been stolen from Konoha recently. It contains very important information that Akatsuki could use to its' advantage. We have intelligence that the ninja hired to steal the scroll will be meeting with their employer at a hotel a few days away from Konoha. The two of you are to pose as a newlywed couple and intercept the scroll. The reason I chose the two of you is that Konoha ninja are pursuing the scroll and it may come to a fight. Because you two are from Konoha you have the best chances. You will depart in an hour, dismissed." Itachi and I nodded and walked out of the room.

"I'll go pack and meet you outside," I said, glancing at Itachi. He nodded and walked off. I returned to my room and packed my weapons and clothes. An hour later I found Itachi waiting outside for me. He turned and started walking.

"The trip to the hotel will take two days. We will have to make camp tonight," Itachi informed me. I nodded and followed along beside him. The trip was a quiet one. I occasionally asked a question or attempted to start a conversation, but the only replies I received were one or two words.

When night fell we sought shelter in a mountainside cave. The sky seemed ominous and it was ready to start pouring any minute. Itachi left to gather firewood while I made a pit. He returned not long after and piled the wood into the pit. He made a few hand seals and the wood was instantly engulfed in flames.

"I'm going to catch some fish," I said as I walked out of the cave. I hiked back down the mountain to a nearby river. I performed a fire jutsu of my own on a portion of the river and a few fish rose to the surface. I plucked them out of the water and skewered them on sticks. Just as I turned to walk back to the cave there was a clap of thunder and it started to pour. "Great...just great," I mumbled to myself. By the time I reached the cave I was completely soaked. Itachi looked up from his thoughts and surveyed me silently. I shook my hair at the entrance of the cave and tossed a few fish at Itachi. He caught them easily and began to roast them over the fire. Shivering, I removed my cloak and spread it out on the ground.

"Sakura," came Itachi's voice. I looked up and he motioned for me to sit next to him. I did so hesitantly and Itachi immediately pulled me close to him with one arm. Blushing, I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You will catch a cold," he informed me as he handed me a roasted fish. I took it from him and bit into it. We ate quietly and the fire began to die down. I shivered and he pulled me closer. I rested my head against his neck and fell asleep.

The next morning I woke to a warm sensation against my cheek. I smiled and moved closer to the warm feeling.

"Comfortable?" a male voice asked. Realizing where I was and who I was with I jolted upright and rushed to my feet. Blushing like mad I snatched up my cloak and wrapped it around myself.

"Ready to go?" I asked while avoiding Itachi's eyes._ 'Why am I so flustered?' _I asked myself. _'I used to sleep against Naruto all the time on missions and never thought anything about it.' _

'_You were a teenager then, and so was Naruto,' _interrupted my inner self, _'But now you're a woman, and Itachi is a man. A damn sexy man, at that.' _This only caused me to blush more. Itachi stood up, which broke me away from my thoughts.

"We shall depart," he said quietly as he started out of the cave. I quickly followed behind. The rest of the journey was remotely silent. We reached the hotel a few hours earlier than expected. Before entering the hotel Itachi and I performed transformation jutsus so we wouldn't be recognized. I became a blond with bright blue eyes and long hair. Itachi had transformed into a younger man with light blue hair in a short ponytail and brown eyes.

"Interesting choice of hair color," I remarked. Itachi nodded and took my arm. I was about to pull away but remembered our cover. I looked up at Itachi to find a smile similar to Sai's plastered on his face. I shivered a bit and returned the gesture. _'It's a bit creepy to see him smile when he's usually so stoic…' _I thought to myself. We walked up to the front desk of the hotel and waited for an employee.

"May I help you?" asked a middle aged man with a kind face. Itachi nodded curtly.

"My wife and I," he threw me a warm smile, "would like to purchase a room for the night." The man looked from me to Itachi with a surprised smile.

"Wife? But the two of you look so young!"

"Yes, but we are very much in love," Itachi said as he kissed me on the cheek. I giggled and blushed.

"Well you certainly make a cute couple," laughed the man as he handed Itachi a room key. Itachi handed the hotel worker a few bills and thanked him. "It was nice meeting you!" The man called after us as we walked to our room. I bowed slightly and Itachi sent him a warm wave.

"Well that was surprising," I said when Itachi and I were in our room. We released our transformation jutsus and Itachi turned to me.

"What do you find surprising?" he asked monotonously.

"That! You completely changed your personality and facial expressions. It was a bit creepy," I admitted. Itachi smirked slightly.

"It wasn't all for the cover," he replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. He didn't answer. "Ok then…" I said as I flopped onto the bed and surveyed the room. "Hey, Itachi…there's only one bed." Itachi nodded and sat down on the other side.

"We are playing the part of husband and wife, are we not?" he asked without looking at me. I nodded and blushed a bit. "It is dinnertime, should we get something to eat…honey?" Itachi asked while hiding his smirk. I rolled my eyes and replaced the transformation justu, deciding to change my outfit to a short white dress with cherry blossoms sewn onto it. Itachi wore a black dress shirt and pants with a red tie. "Your dress is very fitting, I like it," remarked Itachi.

"Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself." Itachi took my arm and led me out of the hotel into the street. We came upon a small but elegant restaurant and Itachi escorted me inside. A waiter led us to a table and informed us that he would be back momentarily. "Why such an elegant restaurant?" I asked.

"Can a husband not take his wife to a restaurant that befits her?" I blushed lightly as the waiter returned with two menus and a bottle of sake. He set the menus in front of us and poured us each a glass.

"I will be back in a few minutes to take your orders," he said, bowing slightly and turning to walk away. Itachi surveyed me silently as I downed my glass.

"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?" he asked with an amused tone to his voice.

"That may be so, but you're the one who let me participate in a drinking contest," I replied. He raised an eyebrow and slowly drank his own glass. The waiter returned and took our orders then rushed off again.

I turned back to Itachi, "Dango and tea?"

He shrugged, "I have a sweet tooth."

After dinner we returned to the hotel and waited for the thieves. It wasn't long before I sensed shinobi chakra signatures. I turned to tell Itachi and he nodded, motioning for me to follow him. We found two middle age shinobi in the hallway next to ours. Itachi walked past one and made a move to knock him out but the shinobi caught his hand and punched Itachi in the stomach. Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Damn, shadow clone," grumbled the shinobi.

"C'mon, let's lose these two before we meet up with the boss," barked the second one. The two took off running with Itachi and me not far behind. When we were safely into the forest behind the hotel Itachi sent a fire jutsu at them. They dodged and I took off my gloves.

"We have company," Itachi said passively. I looked forward to see three more ninja appear in the clearing. I bit my lip to keep from gasping. It was Shikamaru's team. "You know them," Itachi observed. I nodded.

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" yelled the two ninjas from before. Itachi looked to me and I nodded. We released our transformation jutsus.

"Akatsuki!" yelled the man.

"Sakura," Ino said quietly.

"We had been told that you joined Akatsuki, but I didn't believe it until now," said Shikamaru.

"Forehead why did you leave? Come back to the village with us!" yelled Ino. My face darkened.

"Come back to the village, why? So I can be locked up in a cell again? I don't think so!" I growled, my hands balled tightly into fists. Ino looked hurt. I turned to Itachi.

"You get the scroll; I'll deal with these three." Itachi nodded and was gone in an instant. I turned to face Ino. "I'm never going back there unless it's to kill Danzo and the elders."

Shikamaru sighed, "Then I guess we're going to have to take you back by force." I smirked darkly.

"Well you can try," I said as I activated my kekkei genkai. The three of them looked around wildly for me, but they wouldn't be able to see me no matter how hard they looked.

"What the hell is this?" yelled Choji.

"It's my kekkei genkai," I replied from a tree, quickly jumping out of it so the sound wouldn't be traced back to me. "And this is only part of it."

Itachi returned with the scroll but I told him to stay out of it. Shikamaru scoffed and pulled out wire and explosive notes.

"Cover me," he told Ino and Choji. He tied some of them to kunai and threw them into the trees. Others he jumped up and tied himself. I smirked and carefully jumped down from a tree, easily avoiding the wires. I snuck up behind Choji and knocked him unconscious then jumped away. Ino threw a kunai at me, but I was already gone. Shikamaru was sitting on the ground in his usual position while Itachi was watching intently from a few yards away. I stepped on a certain spot on the ground and suddenly couldn't move.

"Shit…" I said as I looked down to see a shadow attached to mine. I released my kekkei genkai and glared at Shikamaru. Itachi pulled out a kunai and moved to attack Shikamaru. "Don't!" I yelled, but Shikamaru was already making hand signs and my body started moving on its own to attack Itachi. "Learned a new justu, have we?" I growled as my body kept moving. Itachi was doing his best to avoid my attacks without hurting me and without setting off the explosive notes, but I saw the problem before he did. My arm moved to punch him and he was in a place where he couldn't avoid it. If he dodged he would set off explosive notes and kill us both. He managed to block my first punch with his arm, but the second one came so quickly that it only left one option. Itachi caught my fist. With his bare hand.

Shikamaru's justu was immediately severed and I fell to my knees, clutching my head. Sounds and images were flooding my mind. I heard Shikamaru stumble to his feet. The connection with my mind had affected him.

"We're retreating," he told Ino as he picked up Choji and jumped away.

I braced myself on the ground with one hand, breathing heavily. When the images finally stopped tears were streaming down my face. All I heard was Itachi saying my name before I blacked out.

Ooooh, cliffy! Aren't I horrible? Review please, or I'll kill off everybody! Kidding, kidding!


	4. AnnoucementQuestion

Hidden Truths: Announcement/Question

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated! My father passed away almost two months ago and I started band camp for school. I just started writing the next chapter and happened to think of something. There could possibly be a pairing emerging in the next chapter or two, so….

To lemon or not to lemon? That is the question! Review with your answers or send me a message. I've never written a lemon before, but hey, whatever you all want. :D

Sorry again! Thank you!

-itachisgurl4ever


	5. Chapter 4

Hidden Truths Chapter 4

Well….chapter four is finally here! I'm soooo horribly sorry about that incredibly long wait! I should've updated a lot sooner but there has been so much going on lately. The next chapter won't be up until sometime this summer. School, AP exams, all that fun stuff. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

I could vaguely hear muffled voices as I came to. I could sense three people in the room. Blonde hair skirted outside of my vision as I struggled to open my eyes.

"Hey, look! She's awake, un!" I heard a male voice exclaim. There was a slight pressure on my arm. "How are you feeling, un?" Deidara asked.

"Like someone dropped a boulder on my head," I mumbled back. My vision cleared and I saw Kisame, Deidara, and Tobi gathered around my bed. "What happened?" I asked.

"That's what we would like to know," said Kisame, "Itachi showed up at the hideout with you in his arms about six hours ago. He just handed you to me and left. We haven't seen him since."

_Itachi. _Memories flooded back into my head. Everything he's been through…Why couldn't he just tell someone? Why couldn't he tell Sasuke? To have the person you care about most detest you, it would be unbearable. Every move he's made, every breath he's taken has been for Sasuke, and he doesn't even know. He killed his family for the village. He's been pushing all these thoughts and feelings to some place deep inside of him and refuses to let them out. Even knowing every thought Itachi ever had I still can't begin to imagine what my life would be like if I were in his place.

"I'm going to find him," I said as I tried to stand up. My legs shook but I managed to take a few steps.

"You're in no condition to be moving around, un!" yelled Deidara, "You've been unconscious for the past six hours!"

I gave him a determined look. "This is something I have to do, guys, and you're not going to stop me." Deidara moved to grab my arm but Kisame stopped him.

"Let her go," he said quietly. I nodded to him and quickly swept out of the room.

Once outside I had no idea where to search for Itachi. His chakra signature was nowhere to be found, he was probably masking it. I started wandering in random directions with no idea where I was headed. Hours later I reached a small clearing and a waterfall. I caught a glimpse of a dark figure standing in a cavern behind the waterfall, but it disappeared as soon as I could focus on it.

"You shouldn't have followed me, "came a voice from behind me. I whirled around to find Itachi staring at me, sharingan blazing menacingly. I stared back at him with a fire of my own.

"Why?" I asked stubbornly.

"You know too much; too many things that I've worked to keep hidden. I should…" his voice trailed off and his gaze wavered.

"You should what? Kill me?" I pulled a kunai out of my weapons pouch and put it in his hand, curling his fingers around it. "Do it," I said as I placed the blade to my neck and let go of his hand. I felt the blade shake lightly before Itachi let it fall to the ground. In a flash I was roughly shoved against a tree.

"It would be wise not to test me," he ground out sharply, one hand curled around my throat as he pressed me farther into the tree. I could feel the bark cutting sharply into my back, but I said nothing and stood determinedly still. We were frozen like that for a few minutes before I spoke.

"You're not going to hurt me," I said bluntly. He stood with his eyes glued to mine, thinking through his options. After a few seconds he let his arm fall slowly back to his side.

"I know," he whispered. He turned his head away and stared straight past me.

"So what are you going to do about this?" I asked quietly. He didn't reply. "I think…that you should tell Sasuke everything."

His head whipped back in my direction, eyes boring into my own. The look on his face was so fierce that my breath caught in my throat.

"Under no circumstances is that to happen and you very well know why," he growled as his sharingan began to swirl into the mangekyou, "They are _my _choices and mine only. Am I understood?" I reminded myself to breathe and gave a small nod. Itachi's outer self was slowly fading and his true emotions were becoming more obvious. He suddenly took on an uncharacteristically sad look and turned away from me.

I gently took his hand and walked in front of him. His body tensed the second I touched him. "You don't have to be a block of ice all the time. You don't need to hide your emotions," I said as I cupped his cheek and turned his face towards me. "I'm not going to use them against you. I'm not going to hurt you, and I will never make you choose between the important things in your life. You can trust me, Itachi." After a momentary hesitation he laid his hand over mine; I could feel it shaking ever so slightly.

Suddenly he frowned and closed his eyes, "Trust?" he asked harshly.

"Yes. I know every single thing about you. You only have two options: trust me or kill me. If you're not going to kill me then you have to trust me. I know that you feel something toward me, but you're too afraid to let those feelings out. I'm not going to abuse your feelings, Itachi. I saw something flicker in his eyes. There was that one glimpse of everything he's been working to hide.

He shook his head before he spoke. "I'm not…I'm not going to let you ruin everything I've had planned out. My destiny has been set in place since the day I was born. I've known my fate for a long time. It's how it has to happen, it's how it's _going _to happen. I'm not going to let you jeopardize that."

"I'm not going to jeopardize anything, Itachi. You're allowed to have feelings, and showing those feelings won't kill you. When you care for someone you need to let it show. Knowing what I know I'm not going to leave your side whether you like it or not."

Suddenly the mask was gone. I could see everything reflected in his eyes. So much pain and misery was contained in those orbs. I didn't know if he was about to cry or scream at me.

Suddenly his arms were around me and his lips captured mine. I immediately returned the kiss as he pulled me closer. I could have stayed like that forever, but eventually I had to pull away to catch my breath.

"I…trust you," he whispered, and when his eyes met mine I could tell he meant it. He trusted me as much as any shinobi can.

"Then tell me everything," I returned. "I want to hear it all from the beginning. Let everything out, Itachi." He seemed to contemplate it for a second before he spoke.

"I was always the prodigy," he began, "The clan had high expectations of me from the start and I almost always exceeded them. By eight I had mastered my sharingan and at thirteen I was already an ANBU captain. The weight of the clan was heavy on my shoulders, as was that of the village. I was being pulled in two directions, and eventually one was bound to overcome the other.

"I was exposed to war at a young age. When I was four I witnessed firsthand the tragedies of war and vowed to do all I could to stop it from happening again. The Uchiha clan was secretly planning a coup on the village. If they would have carried it out thousands of lives would have been lost. It would have let to another war. When the village leaders gave me the orders to annihilate the clan I knew what I had to choose. When that night came I carried out my mission perfectly…with one exception," Itachi paused for a few seconds, his breath hitched when he spoke again. "I didn't have what it took to kill my brother. He was what I cared about most in the world. So I let him live. I corrupted him with the idea of revenge. I wanted him to come after me, to kill me." Itachi stopped again and turned away from me to gaze at the sky.

"Soon he will come for me. I am already dying, but I can stay alive until that day. When he kills me the Uchiha clan will be avenged and Sasuke will be a hero. That is what's best for the village, the clan, and most importantly, for Sasuke."

"You're wrong," I whispered. My eyes were clouded as I watched his back. "What do you think is going to happen when Sasuke finds out about your past? You said yourself, he's corrupted with revenge. When he finds out he's going to turn on the elders, he's not going to-"

"Sasuke won't find out. You will not tell him."

"I don't need to. Madara will."

Itachi looked at me for a long moment, "Madara can be dealt with. He will not interfere, that I'll make sure of."

"How, with the little sharingan trick that you're planning? Madara doesn't need eye contact to tell Sasuke the truth and you know it. Sasuke needs to know what really happened to his family, and together you two need to take down Madara before he gets any more powerful than he already is."

"Even if I wanted to tell Sasuke, he wouldn't listen to me if I tried."

"Yes he will. It's easier to hear the truth when the truth is better than the lie. Which do you think he would rather believe? That the older brother he looked up to and cared for dearly brutally murdered his family in cold blood, or that he did what he had to for his village and still loves his little brother with all of his heart? Not only that, but he would die so that his little brother can live out his life to the fullest. Sasuke doesn't hate you Itachi. He wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if he did. He loves you and he thinks you hurt him, so he's confused. That confusion and hurt has morphed into a bloodlust for revenge."

I caught a glimpse of a tear in Itachi's eye before harsh coughs racked his frame. In seconds he was on his hands and knees; blood was spraying across the ground each time he coughed.

"Itachi!" I was instantly by his side sending chakra into his chest. He held up his hand for me to stop.

"I'm fine," he choked out through coughs, "this happens quite frequently-" He didn't finish before he fell forward onto the ground; unconscious. His heartbeat was erratic and I could tell this wasn't like one of his normal fits.

"Stay with me, Itachi," I whispered, pulling him onto my shoulders and heading off quickly towards the base.

**So what's the verdict? Liked it? Hated it? Is everything moving too fast, not fast enough? Comment and tell me!**


	6. Chapter 5

Hidden Truths Chapter 5

It's finally back! Sorry for the terribly long wait! But I made up for it….with citrus fruit! :D

Yes, there is a lemon in this chapter, but I will put up a warning the line before it so you can skip over it if

you prefer. (:

Without further ado…I present you with the fifth chapter of Hidden Truths!

"What the hell happened to him, un?" cried Deidara when I burst through the door, unconscious Itachi cradled carefully over my shoulder. I shoved quickly past him, rushing to get Itachi to my room.

"No time to explain; I'm going to need a few soldier pills," I commanded brusquely. Deidara considered for a moment before scurrying off to locate them. Once in my room I set Itachi carefully down on the bed, mindful of his chest and abdomen. Beads of sweat covered his face and his breathing came in shallow gasps. His pulse was racing and every so often violent coughs racked his frame. I had just begun to cut off Itachi's shirt when Deidara entered the room. He wore an expression of curiosity and handed me the pills. I took one straight away.

"Tell Pein that Itachi is dying," I said shortly. Deidara's face brightened and I sent him a death glare before continuing. "I'm going to attempt to heal him and must not be interrupted." Deidara's face fell. "I have no idea how long this will take; it could be up to a week. I'm going to be expending huge amounts of chakra and the soldier pills will only last so long. I'll need someone to come in and lend me chakra every six hours." Deidara nodded obediently and left to relay the message.

I went straight to work sending probing chakra into Itachi. The disease had eaten away at much of his lungs and they were close to collapsing. Not to mention the damage it had already done to his various other vital organs. I did my best to numb the pain for him before I began the actual healing. The restoration process was an incredibly slow one and I had no idea how long it would take to eradicate the disease entirely.

By the time I had completely restored his organs almost five days had passed. As I had instructed, Akatsuki members would lend me their chakra every six hours. Whatever Itachi had proved hard to get rid of. It was something I had never seen before. Fighting it off used more chakra than I could afford, even with my donors. This disease had to be taken out one molecule at a time. After nine days of constant chakra use I finally managed to rid Itachi of the disease and heal him completely. His complexion lost he gray ashen look it had taken on and returned to its normal pale color. Itachi slowly slid his eyes open and struggled to focus on me.

"Sakura?" he asked hoarsely. I was beginning to feel lightheaded as my chakra depletion and lack of sleep caught up with me.

"I told you…I could heal you…" I whispered before passing out on top of him.

Itachi's POV: Sakura looked extremely exhausted, it was no wonder she passed out How long had she been healing me? Wait…she healed me? I've been to every reputable medic who would see me and they all said I was incurable, but this little kunoichi…I shifted my gaze back to the small form breathing quietly into my chest. For some reason I couldn't help but stroke her hair gently. Who was this delicate creature that I now held protectively with my free arm? Why does she bring out such strong feelings in me? Until she came along Sasuke was the only person I cared about…I kept thinking about her until I managed to drift off again.

Sakura's POV: Everything was white. I couldn't hear anything; couldn't feel anything. Am I dying? I must be. Or maybe I'm already dead? I used more chakra on Itachi than I should have. The wise thing to do would've been to stop after I healed him. I shouldn't have gotten rid of the disease before I had a chance to replenish my chakra, but I didn't want him to be in pain anymore…

Suddenly I could feel something flowing into me. It felt like water was rushing into my veins; but it wasn't water. It was chakra. Itachi's chakra.

"I don't think this is wise, Itachi. You almost died and now you're throwing away what little strength you had managed to build up; let me heal her," I heard through my fog. The voice was muffled.

"No, this is my responsibility. She was willing to die so I would live; now it's my turn to do the same." No! I could feel him weakening and I knew I needed to stop him. _Open your eyes! _I screamed at my body. I gathered all of my strength and slowly managed to pry my eyes open. Itachi was fully focused on his task; face hard with a hint of concern. Kisame lingered just behind him, obviously worried for the well-being of both Itachi and myself. I struggled to lift my hand and feebly place it over Itachi's, weakly trying to push it away.

"Stop," I managed to croak. Itachi's eyes quickly locked onto mine and I could see the relief flood his features.

"You're alive," he whispered. Kisame smiled and ducked out to inform leader. Itachi's gaze still held mine. I could see the sheen of sweat covering his face. "You almost died…for me," he said matter-of-factly. I nodded.

"And I'd do it again, too. Your journey in life isn't over, Itachi. You have too much left to do." Itachi leaned over and kissed my forehead.

"Don't be so quick to throw away your life; it's more precious than you know. Now, you need to rest. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

"You need to recover more than I do. I'm not sleeping until you do," I rebuked. Itachi considered for a moment, but ended up lying beside me. He draped one arm across my stomach possessively.

"Don't even try to get up," he warned. He slid his eyes closed and quickly fell asleep. I followed soon after.

Upon waking I found myself wrapped in Itachi's arms with my own around his waist and my face buried in his neck. I lifted my head up and was about to try to move away when I noticed his face. Itachi was incredibly beautiful and serene as he slept. I freed one of my arms and raised it to lightly move hair out of his eyes. I softly caressed his cheek, unable to help myself.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked in a quiet, husky tone. I jumped and quickly moved away from him, blushing deeply.

"Sorry! I couldn't help myself."

"I didn't say it bothered me," he replied with eyes still closed. I didn't know what to say to that so I decided to change the subject.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready for a mission?" Itachi shook his head.

"It's night time now. The others are on their missions and Pein is in Rain country. He said we are to recover for a day before he sends us on another mission." I nodded.

"I see…Well, I should get prepare for our next mission regardless." I moved to get out of bed but was suddenly stopped when Itachi grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to him. His torso was flush against my back. I could feel his face hovering beside my head.

"What's the hurry?" he breathed into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "Eager to get away from me?" I shook my head timidly. "Good," he whispered. He released me only now to appear on top of me, one hand on either side of my head. My pulse had increased significantly and I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Itachi slowly leaned his face toward mine until our lips met. I shyly returned the kiss and he immediately deepened it while pressing his body into mine. Then I thought of something that caused me to quickly push him off of me and move out of bed.

"If you really are going to let Sasuke kill you, you can't get attached to me and I can't let myself get attached to you. I'll go." Before I could even blink he was gone and I was pinned against the wall. My hands were trapped above my head and his body was keeping me to the wall.

"Sakura…I'm already attached to you. These feelings aren't like me…but they are real. You cannot run away from this." I closed my eyes tightly and his lips claimed mine again. He let go of my arms and I wrapped them around his neck. His hands were on my hips, slowly moving up and down. He bit down softly on my lower lip and I immediately granted him access. His tongue glided across mine and started to move in circles around it.

**LEMON ALERT!**

Without breaking the kiss, Itachi lifted me and laid me back down on the bed. His hands snaked up my shirt and cupped my breasts. He ran his thumbs over my nipples lightly and I gasped quietly. This was all new to me.

"You've never done this before," he said. It wasn't a question. I blushed and shook my head. "Sakura, I wouldn't do anything you don't want me to. If you do not want me to go any farther, I will stop."

"I..I don't want you to stop, Itachi," I murmured shyly. I could see Itachi's gaze soften.

"I'll be gentle," he whispered. I smirked and shook my head.

"No need. I can handle it."

With that Itachi pinned my arms above my head again and kissed me until I was breathless. "We'll see about that," he growled seductively. His tongue danced against mine and I could feel a heat spreading across my body. He pulled my shirt over my head and quickly removed my bra, not pausing for a second. He kissed me again and trailed kisses past my neck until he reached my breast. I felt his tongue flick against my nipple before he took it into his mouth, sucking gently. He then switched to the other breast which elicited a soft moan from me.

Suddenly I pushed Itachi off me and flipped him onto his back. I pulled off his shirt and kissed him deeply before sucking on his neck. Then I trailed kissed down his abdomen until I reached the top of his pants. I pulled them off slowly; his underwear following close behind. I lost my confidence when faced with his rather large erection.

"You don't have to," he said and he reached down to cup my cheek.

"I want to," I assured him as I took him shyly into one hand. His muscles automatically tensed and I gripped firmly, moving my hand up and down. I started off slow before quickly increasing my pace. I could see the pleasure in his face and I lowered my head, flicking my tongue softly against his member. I heard him moan as I took him into my mouth, sucking gently. I glided my tongue against his length and began to move my head up and down, taking him deeper and deeper into my mouth. He moaned again and I sucked harder, increasing my pace.

"Sakura…" he moaned lightly. I blushed and moved faster before pulling back slightly and sucking on his tip.

"My turn," he growled before flipping me over and pinning me down again. He ripped off my skirt and shorts before gently tugging off my underwear. He sucked on my nipple and rubbed my clit softly. I moaned and he kissed his way down to my inner thigh. He looked at me for approval and I nodded, blushing deeply. His tongue quickly found its way inside me and I gasped quietly. He moved it around before licking my clit roughly, moving his tongue hungrily. I moaned loudly as he slid one finger inside me; probing. He soon pushed in a second one, moving them both in and out, slowly at first until I got used to them. As I adjusted he moved them faster and harder.

"Do you want me?" he asked seductively.

"Yes," I whispered quietly.

"I'm afraid I can't hear you," he said, moving his fingers faster.

"I want you inside me," I moaned. Itachi smirked and was suddenly hovering over top of me. I could feel his tip barely touching my entrance.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I nodded and he pushed inside me. The first thing I felt was a sharp pain. But my body quickly adjusted to him before he pulled out and pushed back in slowly. The pain was soon replaced by pleasure and I began to moan as he quickened his pace.

"Itachi…" I moaned as he thrust harder. He moaned back and after a while he increased his pace again. I was getting close and I could see he was nearing his end as well. He thrust as hard as he could, hitting my sweet spot each time. "Itachi!" I screamed as I finished. I could feel him cum soon after and he let out a load moan. He collapsed on top of me, breathing heavily.

"Sakura…stay with me," he commanded. Even with his harsh tone I could tell it was more a plea than it was a command.

"I'm not going anywhere, Itachi," I replied before he fell asleep on top of me. I smiled and stroked his hair before drifting off as well.

Well what did you think? Was the lemon too soon? Loved the chapter, hated it? Do tell dearies!


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